I. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to materials handling apparatus, and more particularly to an integrated design of an assembly for facilitating sterilization, storage, transport and presentment of surgical instruments.
II. Discussion of the Prior Art
Over the past decade or so there has been a trend in surgical medicine to use disposable intruments following a single use. Commonly, such single-use instruments come from the manufacturer in a sterile kit which is only opened once the surgical procedure has begun and, once used, is thrown away. There are many instruments, however, that because of their intricate construction and precision manufacture are of a cost which precludes the disposal thereof following a single use. For example, in the field of microsurgery otolaryngology, specialized instruments have been developed for conducting surgery on various organs. For example, in otolaryngology, a range of middle ear instruments have been developed for repair and reconstruction of the bones and tissue of the middle ear of a patient. The middle ear instruments, including forceps, scalpels, scissors, picks, hooks, currettes, specula and micro-suction tips, used in these delicate areas are generally of high precision and come in a variety of types, shapes and sizes, all of which may be used during a particular surgical procedure. For example, considering only forceps, they come straight, left curved, right curved, serrated, cupped, etc.
In the past, after surgery, it has been the practice to co-mingle all of these instruments in a basket which is then placed within an autoclave and subjected to sterilizing steam. When ready for use, a surgical nurse would take the instruments from the autoclave basket and lay them out on a Mayo stand in a particular arrangement dictated by the surgeon so that they would be within convenient reach of the surgeon or his surgical nurse.
The co-mingling of the instruments in loose fashion in a basket and the transportation thereof has had the tendency to damage them, rendering them unusable. There is no way to organize them and to protect them at the same time. This, of course, increases the cost of the particular procedure.
In many instances, the surgical instruments used in various procedures look very much alike and differ only in minor respects, such as size, angle of bend, tip type, etc. At a glance, it is difficult to discern one instrument from another and, therefore, the surgical nurse or operating surgeon may have a difficult time selecting the right instrument to use at any given time, especially when it is considered that they are generally arrayed side-by-side on the Mayo table in an order laid out before surgery by the nurse preparing for the procedure. It is, of course, imperative that the surgeon be able to rapidly identify and select the appropriate instrument to be used at any given time without confusion and without any undue lapse of time.
The problem has been that there has been nothing designed to both protect and organize the delicate instruments and to incorporate them into one pan along with the larger instruments and not damage them. The optimum arrangement for the nurse would be to be able to put all the instruments (both delicate and gross) needed to do, for example, a middle ear procedure in one container where they would be protected and organized. When this protective container is opened, it would be desirable if the instruments then could be effectively "presented" to the Mayo stand.